Dwyane Wade, playing with a bum knee, scored 10 points in 41 minutes. Chris Bosh, playing with a sprained ankle, scored seven points in 33 minutes. You could replace them with 2007 versions of Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden and there might not have been much of a difference on Thursday.

So, with his team down four at halftime, the MVP knew he had to take charge. He did just that, scoring or assisting on 25 of the Heat’s 30 third-quarter points and leading them to a 90-79 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

“We were in wait mode in the first half, instead of going and getting it,” James said afterward. “I took it upon myself to stop waiting and just go.”

The Pacers won the other three quarters, 66-60. The Heat won the third, 30-13. And they’re taking their 3-2 series lead back to Indianapolis for Game 6 on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT).

If the 2013 Heat are suddenly the 2007 Cavs, they don’t have much of a chance against the Spurs. Heck, they might not make it through this series. But 2013 LeBron James is not 2007 LeBron James, and that may be all the difference.

Though their 40 first-half points were as much about pace as they were about efficiency, the Heat found something that worked — James in the high post — in the third. It wasn’t a new look for the Heat, but it was in such large doses. And the Pacers couldn’t stop it, as Miami scored 25 points on the 16 possessions the Heat went to it, including 13 points on six possessions in the 12 minutes that changed the game.

Those 30 third-quarter points came on just 20 possessions, as the Heat, despite the ineffectiveness of two of their three All-Stars, looked like the offensive force they were throughout the regular season. This was a level of efficiency that those Cavs never reached, in part because there was never so much more variety to James’ game in Cleveland.

“When you think he can’t get better, when he can’t do anything else, he comes back and starts the new season bring something else to his game,” Udonis Haslem, the Zydrunas Ilgauskas on this night with 16 points on 8-for-9 shooting, said. “We know every night we can depend on him. It’s our job to just try to keep up with him.”

The Heat’s three wins in this series have come with large doses of pick-and-rolls in Game 1, low-post touches for James in Game 3, and high-post touches for James in Game 5. Every time the Pacers seem to gain some traction, the champs come with a new look.

The Pacers can draw some comfort it Miami’s shooting numbers on Thursday. The Heat took 44 of their 75 shots from outside the paint, connecting on 21 (48 percent) of those 44 jumpers. Only seven of James’ 26 shots came from the paint, but he shot 7-for-12 from mid-range and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. Furthermore, he had just four free throws, and the Heat had just 12 as a team.

That kind of perimeter shooting *probably isn’t sustainable (Miami had shot just 32 percent from outside the paint in the first four games), but the Pacers feel they were partially responsible for such hot shooting.

*A year ago, James shot 10-for-16 from outside the paint in his huge Game 6 in Boston. He then shot 8-for-48 from outside the paint over the last six games of the postseason.

“I thought they were probably more open than usual,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “We didn’t get to shooters well enough tonight.”

“Most of it was us,” Roy Hibbert added. “We just didn’t defend at a high enough level to get the job done.”

But as much as the Pacers can feel optimistic about how unsustainable the Heat’s shooting was, Miami can feel good about the way they defended in Game 5. After scoring over 110 points per 100 possessions through the first four games, Indiana was held to just 79 on 83 possessions on Thursday.

They pressured the Pacers’ guards, who came up empty. They rotated, double-teamed the post, helped and recovered. And they did it without fouling, holding Indiana to just 15 free throws, less than half of their total in any of the previous four games. Most importantly, the Heat finished off their defensive possessions with rebounds.

Indiana was held to just six offensive boards after averaging 15.3 in the first four games. It was a team effort for Miami, but James was as much of a force on the glass as he was on offense. He led the team with eight rebounds, all on the defensive end of the floor, the last three coming over or next to 7-foot-2 Hibbert, who grabbed only two offensive boards in his 40 minutes.

It was, by far, the Heat’s best defensive performance of the series. And it was probably more characteristic of both Miami’s defense and Indiana’s offense than any of the first four games were.

“It’s getting to our identity,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “applying pressure, covering ground, hopefully forcing them into mistakes, or at least getting them to play faster than they would typically like. That was the more important key to the second half, as our guys were flying around.”

James’ Game 5 numbers — 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists — weren’t quite on the “Video Game James” level that we’ve seen him reach in other playoff games. But it was the slow pace (the Heat had just 82 total possessions) that really kept him from completely blowing out the boxscore.

Make no mistake about it. He dominated this game, and has the ability to do the same every time he shows up at the arena. Best player on the floor. Best player in the world. Sometimes, that’s what it comes down to.

high five to Miami #Heat check time
Miami played so well last night. when Miami shooters are hitting their shots makes it much is easier on LeBron. dwade, chris bosh gotta step up next game to win in game 6 ray allen, shane battier they gotta hit more of their 3pointers…the miami heat can not play like the cav’s of old or miami are going home…we already know LeBron shows up in every game..ill give credit to the pacers they are good!! they are giving miami hard time cause of their size…paul goerge is star player dam his good..mia needs to run more plays with LeBron and dwade to get dwade going. Because them two know how to finish strong

but I called it miami and spurs in the finals. I know mia will be in a good rhythm in the finals

I’ve always watched post-season NBA going back to Pistons in the 80’s. Last year after the semi’s, I turned it off. OKC and Miami were such floppers (Miami by FAR the worse), the purist in me couldn’t handle to watch another minute of it without barfing at millionaires falling down and crying every 5 seconds. Nice to know the league took notice too and is trying to restore image, but just haven’t got back into it this year. Probably will tune in to the Finals to see if the team spirit of the Spurs can overcome the showmanship of Heat. Hopefully will be competitive and restore what was lost last year.

as great as lebron was lastnight…i believe the pacers allowed this game to get away…not getting anything from the back court, leaving haslim open, stupid turnovers, and missing too many chippys…ive said this all playoffs..the pacers are not a championship team…because they dont close out teams when given the chance…game 1 on the road is game we shouldn’t loose the way we did…game 3 they flat out beat us…this game we got caught up in emotions and lost focus. things that champoinship teams don’t do…game 6 and 7 will tell if the pacers have figured it out…if not…we get another year to grow but this team is close…even with chitown healthy and the knicks and new jersey all in the mix…miami know there is only 2 teams in the east that can hang…indiana and chitown!! if the nba cleans up the officating and allows the product to speak for itself the nba is in great hands with these stars in the league!!

@PacerNation2013,
the same thing can be said about wade/bosh combining just 15 points around and that happens very rarely. And battier and company missing 2 to 3 easy open looks just like pacers missed easy lay ups!
heat have still plenty in store to counter pacers, they just have to go and deliver. the pressure is on pacers and expect heat to come with full force this time!

I think Lebron is a great player, but the pacers were just worn down the last qurter, a lot of Lebron’s points were with a pacer in front of him taking a snapshot of it, they just put their arms down and watched the game from inside the court, those 3 points from Udonis Haslem show what was happening, Pacers runing everywhere without knowing what to do and Miami sensing he blood and attacking over and over, if the Pacers don’t shake from this numbness the next game is the last. Great finals anyway enjoyed every minute of the 5 games so far.

I cant help but feel that this is the finals for the Heat. If they are able to beat the pacers, I think the Finals will be easier. The simple reason is that i think Hibbert is better than Duncan right now. And west and George are better than anyone on the Spurs team (except Parker). You see the heat having problems when hibbert and west play, because they are so strong and have length. So for the Spurs to win it all. They have to play big, otherwise: heat in 5

Lebron James by himself outscore the Indiana team. This is umbelievable. He is one the greatest player ever seen. To watch Lebron playing his best is to withness history being made. This guy has a very IQ in Basket Ball…he is really gifted by God.

I am fully convinced of GAME 7. As amazing as James was in the 3rd Qtr. I want to throw some “FACTS” in here. Lance and GHILL were a combined 5 points. Will NOT happen in INDIANA, rarely happens on the road. We only lost by 11. If GHILL even gets half his avg. Game is tied or Indiana with the lead. It took all that work of James to only win by the narrow margin of 11. You add half of Lances average its no longer a tie Indiana is leading by 6-7. You tie in those give me layups that Indiana Blew its a double digit Indiana win. NOW don’t get my words twisted, I cant stand James for his ego, but his performance was out of this world and amazing, but even with that said, you have to look at facts and worry, we have shut down haslem before and we will do it again, and we aren’t going to miss lay ups very often. Soo I WOULDNT be predicting any heat spurs series anytime soon. Lets see what happens Sat.

I told u Lebron had to take over and be more aggresive offensively, when his teammates score the Heat are unstopable, BUT, they are gunna get owned by the Spurs, Pop owns spoelstra big time and the SPurs roster is pretty good

how u heat fans can be proud of this team?they can just win if the refs are calling in favour for the heat? 11 foul calls really crawfod and davis? heat fans u are proud of the flopping queens,sry that is not the bball i loved. is just the result important for u guys? u want that really that the behavior from birdman is ok but u cry why nazr do it to lbj queen?
ashame and nba will lost many respect if they dont suspend birdman, and what is really ridicolous is the t for tyler.
the only way flopping is stopping if they get suspended not after 5 games , first flop first suspended or ejection.
but this rule ill change when the heat floppers are not with the heat in 3 yrs or so, mark my words!!!

Keep crying SAM, u have no life. In every game there were bad calls and missed calls, if youre team wasnt on playoffs just watch the game, ur being pathetic, losser’s excuse, its enuf, the miami just play better on the 3rd quarter. Can i ask? Did the refs shoot the 30 points on the 3rd for the heat? Get a life beach! :))

wade/bosh/battier wake up guys important game coming up!
ray is improving as lebron is finding him!
if bird is missing both miller/anthony needs to step up!
cole has to contribute in defense and penetration in whatever minutes he gets!
if miami can do that they will close it out game 6!

LBJ is unstoppable.. he is just amazing.. took over 3rd quarter, is not as easy as it looks, it needs energy, skill, luck, and also leadership.. look at the emotion of LBJ from the replay..hopefully The Heat will overwhelmed Pacers on game 6.. 😀

the referees are fair, they are being watched by the FBI. they will never cheat.. 🙂

what a win for the miami heat…that 3rd quarter was just intense…that huddle talk lebron gave musta been epic…dwade and bosh still mia…i think dwade may be ending his career a lot sooner than expected..hes scored less than 20 points in the past 10 games..thats so not dwade like. bosh seems like hes out of it..but when you have king james and 2-3 role guys who can make shots..thats all you need cuz everyone on that team can play defense, which really is a huge key to winning championships in the first place..i feel miami will close out in game 6..this would be the perfect game for dwade and bosh to have monster nights..however pacers are at home and with the energy of the crowd it may come down to a game 7…i really dont think miami will lose against the spurs if they make it to the finals. when miami heat is playin at their best no one can beat them..too fast, too quick, suffocating defense and you got the best basketball player on earth. id really would love to see heat vs spurs ..i dont think weve seen this match up at its full potential since the big 3 came together in south beach..lets see if pacers respond tho..

I read 2 days before that the officials marc davis and d. crawford will do their best to get the win for the heat, thats why i decided to watch the hole game. and now i am shocked about the comments from the “BW”-heatfans, are u really so blind? don´t u realize what is going on if this attitude from the big 3 especialy from the “king of flopping” get to the youth? what i see is flopping and after every clear foul call bs talking, “really ref i didnt touched him”. also the lbj screen was a foul read the nba rules. i bet miami get away with more missed calls then the pacers 20 times!! and the 50:50 calls clear calls they have to whistle, but what i am concerned about to see that the next generation is flopping all the time, and thats ridiculous to watch and the comments from lbj is bs. it is not apart of the game, no , it is your weakness not to be so great like mj etc. the nba is creating image for their horse, so they helped where they can and this is ridicolous obvious. the refs did their thing in the first half and 2. and all i read is what geat 3.qurter they had really. obvious the ball went out of bounds from lbj (plz if u will say this was a foul, then they missed 10 of this for the pacers) and ray hit then a 3 pointer. what about 3 flops from chalmers and the best rom lbj and the moderater called it (for the dumb bw.fans: ironically) :dj augustin is really a strong defender how he can push lbj away, i didnt noticed that before, i was laughing but thats is not the nba i loved and this is a shame for sportsmanship. and jes the pacers starts to flopping,too who dont .when u see the heat started it the refs are calling it, so now it is ok.
refs get out of lbj a$$ and of sterns too, if u want a heat finals then take them direcly in the finals and the others can battle for finals. here some great sportsmanships award : no he is not a flopper.

plz can we come back to real bball without flopping, can we get a fair whistle game 6 and 7? are u not ashame Davis/crawford about what u both are calling?how was the ring u both get from the heat at the ceremony for the trophy they get last year. u both earned it and maybe this year again.
i cant believe that fans can accept or ignore this attitude from the players and the clear advance for the heat? really the birdman had to be ejected, and then he blocked tylers layup. the pacers cant believe what they get from the refs and me too.
sry for the pacers fans
no i am not a pacers i was a heat fan, but now i will go watch WWF is the same result like NBA games every thing is fixed , but i dont want to believe it

half of those links arent even flops. The first knicks one and mavericks looks a little weak but all the other (flops) he gets hit in the face, is just looking for the ball (pacers 2012) or gets nailed by chandler

People need to stop with the Refs helped here the Refs favored there. There were missed/bad calls, unessesary techs to go around. Some just more blatant than others. Both teams have played their hearts out. Stop crying, celebrate your wins and man up and deal with the loses.

CONGRATULATIONS MIAMI AND LEBRON. GREAT WIN. YOU DESERVE IT. 🙂 However, when it comes to the finals against the Spurs, Wade and Bosh better be back to their old selves. The Lebron – Haslem combination is certainly not enough to offset the weapons of San Antonio.

When Lebron came to Miami, I wished for this to not happen. Yes, he’s a amazing player but I don’t want the team to depend on him entirely when the situation looks bleak. Game four proves that a “hero” can be killed.

yeah and the refs go all 2002 on the pacers. tell me again how was the canary NOT ejected after the shove while a few games back Nazr was thrown out for the exact same thing? Like a true NBA fun i feel more disgusted every day. It’s a shame really.

Is that you Paul George? I think your a little biased with that comment. Difference is Lebron hit the deck from that unknown player, meanwhile Hansborough barely took a step back. If that was Lance Stephenson he would of been in the first row seats and then Birdman would of been ejected. The refs made the right call, flagrant 1! Now lose with dignity Pacer fans! Are you saying that the only way you could beat the Heat is if Birdman is ejected? Cause I knew that the Heat would beat Chicago even if that unknown player played 48 minutes LOL.

So basicialy you are saying because hanborough is a man and doesn’t flop like Lebron the DIDDILER got to stay in the game? Also you may want to look again a team mate caught him so he couldn’t hit the deck. Also it was not just one hit, he shouldered him then shoved him with 2 hands. Should have been thrown out of the game PERIOD!

nazr was only ejected from the game, because lebron had already been called for a technical foul, and if you come back and knock down that player after it was called, its an automatic ejection, it wasnt favortism, its just the rules, stop blaming the refs for everything and just deal with that your team got beat

EXACT SAME THING? No. Similar. Yes. Hansbrough stepped up to Birdman as well said something back to him. It was a double T which is fair, but I do think Birdman got off easy with the push and could have been ejected.

The guy is just out-of-this-world!
Sad to see he has to carry the team alone on his shoulders and they can’t afford to rest him more than 2 minutes! I wonder if he can keep this up for the rest of the series and then against Kawhi Leonard/Danny Green’s young legs! Miami will not pull this off if Wade and Bosh keep scoring below 20 points. (Kudos to UD for showing up last nite!)

Sad to see Russel Westbrook having gone down, otherwise we would still be watching Western Conference Finals basketball!!

The Heat did not have a problem at all with the spurs during the season and I’m sure they won’t in the playoffs either, and there is no way the Thunder would have beaten Miami either. Westbrook or not ! Lebron has young legs too, how old do you think he is ??? He’ll be there, hopefully he has a little more help ……………Go Heat !!!

sadly to say, the season and the playoffs are two different things buddy. The spurs and memphis were tied at two a piece in the season, and look what happened……. the finals are different with the spurs starving for another title.

Don´t want to say the Heat didn´t deserve to win the game and the series (they are the team with better players). But if we check the REf’s calls we can see that the Heat are beiing favoured by the Refs and the Comission that sets fines punishments. Check what Birdman did to Tyler and then compare with this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoRCSwaRHkg

yeah, and thats fully understandable as Nazi M. shoved James to the ground AFTER the refs whistle had gone off, so that even if James hadn’t fallen down, NM would have been ejected.

Anyhow who cares if Birdman is ejected or not, OK, he blocked a shot which might have gone in, but in the end Indiana scored on that posession.

Worse calls were the obvious misses on the ball touching the rim in Game 4 or in game 5 the ball which clearly went off James in the start of the 4th Q. Those bad calls make a difference can cause a swing and I really think that coaches should have a chance to challenge a missed call twice a game!

I am an ardent heat fan & I admit , there is inconsistency between the 2 calls ,either Mohammad should not have been ejected or Andersen should have, but you cannot really believe there is a conspiracy here .Fist of all there were different referees ,second it had no impact on the outcome of the game. Bad officiating goes both ways, did you see Stephonson elbow wade or why was West not given a technical for going after Chalmers ?

Cleveland lebron? Not quite. I understand that he did a lot, but there have been games where we have seen what Miami is when they clicking. Game 3 is a great example. He has a much better chance against the Spurs with this team than with his Cleveland team. The main issue with the Pacers is they have more size than most teams. Roy Hibbert and David West are bigger and stronger than what the Spurs got so I imagine the Heat will have an easier time if they make it to the Finals. Udonis Haslem has stepped up as well. You can’t ignore his efficiency. I still think the Heat will win it all.

Heat deserved to win this one. Pacers gave it away in the 3rd and in the last 2 minutes of the 4th they were walking on the court like Thomas Hearns in the 3rd round of his fight with Marvin Hagler! Only Lance Stephenson was giving it his all and paid the price for it with his 6th foul.

Amazing Game, Amazing performance, Amazing Player,
Whenever we think he is done with the gr8 performance.. he comes up again to better the previous one..
Although would love to see Wade and Bosh contributing still till James is performing like this I think Heat doesnt have much to worry about. Go HEAT..

I liked how Frank Vogel admitted saying if Haslem is going to shoot 8 for 9 every night, it’s going to be a long series two games ago came back to haunt him, given he said it like it wasn’t going to happen again.

EXACTLY! All I see from the Pacers is pretentiousness, and hypocrisy rather than their so called Blue Collar Gold Swagger. The coach keeps undermining Miami, while the players keep complaining about dirty fouls, yet commit the same kind.

hehe best player in the world,..you have to force your way inside the paint because that is where the high percentage is. goodluck on game 6, try to duplicate last year’s 4-2 finish…Lance Stephenson CHOKE sign?..its him who CHOKE!!!

I’ve got to say… Whats up with the new guy narrating the game hi lights? He’s horrible. He sounds like a 2nd rate MC on the radio. Also is Lebron ever going to get called for a travel or offensive foul? Every he drives the lane left arm fend. And it’s pretty obvious. just saying….

Nice article for me.. Nice win for the HEAT! it was huge for them especially JAMES who carried the game with haslem..WADE and BOSH are also a big help but not like the other past game.. i hope the GAME 6 in indiana will close by the heat.. and face the SPURS in the finals.. Nice Win HEAT! KEEP IT UP.. LET’S GO HEAT!

Holding ANY team to 13 points in a quarter is all about TEAM DEFENSE, not just LeBron. Also, Haslem was on fire and continues to be a viable option when the defense collapses on Lebron or whomever is penetrating into the paint. And the Birdman came up with huge blocks, tip outs, and rebounds when they counted the most. Sure, the scoring wasn’t balanced like it was in Cleveland, but everything else was Miamiesque, and now they are one win away from getting a chance to repeat as the NBA champions.